Best Partner (AU Blacklist Keenler)
by riversandroadsx
Summary: Agnes is back with her mother. Tom is gone. Liz turns to the only person who makes her feel truly safe, Donald Ressler.
1. Best partner

This is my first fanfic.

It's totally AU. Agnes is back with Liz, and Tom has toddled off to film Redemption. I'm thinking no one knows why he left and why he and Liz aren't together anymore, other than him and Liz. It might be something revealed if I end up doing more than one chapter.

Also, I haven't seen any of season 4 yet because it's not aired in the UK yet. Forgive me if I get any information wrong.

"I didn't know where else to go." She stood helplessly at her ex partner's apartment door, holding her daughter close to her chest. Liz's eyes were swollen from crying, and Agnes was fussing. The baby was clearly concerned about her mother. It was incredible how perceptive someone a couple of months old could be.

Without hesitation, Ressler opened the door wide to let her in. She had been through so much, it wasn't a surprise she'd hit this point, but he was concerned something had happened. "Tom?" He thought out loud. He had been her crutch since her time on the run. No Tom meant something had happened with him.

"I have a bag outside." Liz bounced Agnes on her hip, trying to sooth her daughter as she walked in to his apartment as if he was expecting her. Oddly enough, smelling the familiarity of Ressler and his apartment made her breathe a sigh of relief. She needed to feel safe; she needed her daughter to feel safe. Ressler was safe. He'd understood her reasons for what she'd done. He'd showed her nothing but respect. Ressler made her feel like a real person, not like any of the things portrayed in the media or the pleasantries she'd exchanged with Samar.

His eyes widened. "Bag?" He poked his head around the doorframe to the hallway, and there it was. She'd brought luggage?

"We need somewhere to stay." Her tone was matter of fact. Liz sat on the sofa and placed Agnes on her lap to face her. "I can't stay in that apartment anymore."

Ressler dropped the large bag on the floor, before closing the door behind him. He wanted to ask what was up, but she would tell him in her own time. The last thing she needed was a big deal to be made out of this. "Well you can stay as long as you want." He shrugged.

"Tom left us." She was unable to make eye contact with Agnes or Ressler at this point. Liz had spent too long crying over her life, she needed to pull it back together. She had spent a week hiding it from her friends; it was time to come clean. The apartment did nothing but remind her of her failed relationship, the people hunting her and everything else that had happened over the past year.

"I'm sorry." Ressler's tone was genuine. The brunette knew full well about her ex partner's hatred of Tom. It wasn't something he was shy about. The sincerity in his voice meant a lot to her. The man wanted to pry. Heck, of course he was curious to what straw was the piece that broke the camels back, but it wasn't the time. It was something he'd expected – Tom leaving. He didn't think he'd feel this way. He never thought he'd feel sad for Liz. For some reason, telling her she'd always deserved better and how much of a piece of shit he was, it wasn't something he wanted to do. Seeing her sad – made him sad. Liz had wanted so badly to have a normal life, a family, a career and so much of it had been stripped away from her. Finding out about her pregnancy and clinging to Tom was all she'd had.

"It's for the best." Liz sounded like she believed her words. Maybe she did. "I guess, I just need…" She couldn't finish her sentence. She didn't know what she needed.

"Hey, whatever you need. I got your back." Ressler nodded, his smile sincere as he sat himself down next to her. "And yours, my little rugrat." His tone was cheerful, as he pulled a silly face at Agnes who grinned at his friendly light hearted tone. She could tell he was playing with her. He poked at her belly, before blowing on her cheek to make a farting noise, which made the child let out a small giggle.

Liz's heart melted at the sound of her daughter's laugh. It was a beautiful laugh. She let out a delayed laugh in aw of the human she'd made.

"I'll push my bed against the wall for tonight. You and Agnes can stay in there. I'll have the sofa bed." He nodded. It was an excellent investment. The man grinned ear-to-ear, proud of his suggestion. Sure, she had a baby but he had made a grown up decision by having a sofa bed in his spare bedroom.

"Thank you." Her lips softly brushed his cheek. "It means a lot to us."

He had been about to climb to his feet to make said arrangements, but feeling the warmth of her lips against his cheek took him aback. Ressler stopped everything he was doing, everything he was thinking and looked at Liz. He was trying so desperately to think about something else, anything else. Even with swollen eyes, makeup from sixteen hours ago and hair all over the place, she was still beautiful. Her life was so complicated, and it had stopped him so many times from addressing the spark he'd initially had which was now burning a hole in his chest as he looked directly in her crystal blue eyes

He let out a manly cough, to snap himself back to reality. "Well Keen, what can I say? I'm the best partner in the world?"

"Don't I know it."


	2. I'll keep you safe

It had been a solid two weeks. Not a word had been uttered about Tom, or what had happened. Red had fallen off the radar, obviously he'd still not forgiven Liz for what she'd done. The only people the brunette had seen were her daughter, Ressler and Amar. Of course, when Ressler mentioned in the post office that Liz was staying with him Samar was prickly, Cooper was coming around and Amar was over the moon with excitement. He even took an afternoon off to swing by with a ridiculously pink and fluffy bear for Agnes. The fluff was something Liz was concerned would be a choking hazard. For now it would be decorative for the child to admire from Ressler's chest of draws.

The two weeks she had spent with Ressler felt normal. She was a normal woman looking after her baby. Liz barely left Agnes' side, to the point where she was suffering from extreme baby brain. She'd never seen her life turning to this point, a single mom with no job and no friends.

"Liz?" She heard faintly from the front room, and the front door shutting as quietly as he could. It was 8pm, and Ressler knew Agnes would likely be asleep. Little did he know, Liz had fallen asleep in Ressler's bed next to the travel crib he'd bought for their stay. The sound of the door and the familiar voice had brought her back to consciousness. Lifting her head up, she checked her daughter was still fast asleep before tip toing to the living room to greet him.

"Hey." Her tone was sleepy, and she let out a small yawn before rubbing her eyes trying to adjust to the light.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He reached in to the fridge to get a beer for himself. Realising he was probably being rude, he pulled one out to offer her one too. Liz accepted, thankful to spend an evening with a grown up and some grown up conversation. Taking the bottle from his hand, she pulled the bottle opener from the draw to open both of them.

"Don't be silly." After all, she had taken over his home. "You're late. New case?" Her tone was curious. She had wondered if Red had made contact with the taskforce. As much as she loved being with Agnes, she would kill for a new case to kick some ass.

"Nope, just got a lot of paperwork to get done." He plonked himself down on the sofa next to her, before taking a sip of his beer. Ressler let out a small sigh – much better. "You know how it is."

"I'm sorry, we've kinda taken over the place." Liz looked around at the baby stuff that cluttered his apartment.

"Not at all." He shut her down, not allowing her to continue. "I love having you both here." Ressler smiled warmly, making eye contact for a second before looking away and taking another sip of his beer.

"You don't have to say that."  
"I'm not just saying it." His tone was defensive. "I've lived alone for too long." Ressler shook his head. He looked to the floor feeling pathetic at his confession. He had briefly rekindled his romance with his ex fiancée Audrey Bidwell, before she was killed. It wasn't long enough to qualify as living with her again. "I really do love having you both here. I meant when I said you can stay here as long as you want."

"Thank you."  
"What happened with Tom?" He thought out loud. Realising what he'd said, his cheeks flushed pink and his heart thumped in his chest. Of course, he wanted to know but he didn't want to pry.

Liz sighed, completely taken aback. She was quiet and took another sip of her beer. She opened her mouth to speak but instead decided to take yet another sip. The brunette couldn't even think of a starting point. There were so many reasons Tom wasn't good for her, or Agnes. He loved both Liz and Agnes dearly, but he was yet another person to put them both directly in harms way.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me." Ressler broke the silence. "It was no secret I never liked the guy."

"The truth is, Ressler, I don't even know where to start." She admitted, laying back on the sofa and resting the beer on her chest. "I think I went back to him for all the wrong reasons." Liz's words were careful, but she nodded at them knowing it was the truth. "I wouldn't change it." She spoke more freely. "I mean, Agnes is my world, it's just… all the things I want for her… I want her to have a normal life - as much of one as possible. I want her to be safe." Liz smiled, thinking about the future she wanted for the baby. Thinking about her first steps, first words, first day at school, these thoughts were interrupted by:

"I'll keep you safe." His heart stopped momentarily, realising what he'd said. Liz looked at him, slightly confused by his words. They made her smile nonetheless. When they sank in it even made her heart flutter.

Ressler's cheeks burned red as he finished the contents of his beer just to have an excuse to walk out to the kitchen and away from the situation.

Liz frowned at his response to his own words. She found it confusing how he'd just said something so sweet and then walked away. Ressler struggled with his emotions; it had been obvious since day one, but Liz always thought they'd had the type of relationship they could be completely open.

She followed him to the kitchen, pulling herself up to sit on the countertop. "I know you will. You always have."

"Then why, Liz?" The words practically fell out of his mouth, but he couldn't help it. He'd felt a fire in his belly that he hadn't felt in a long time. Ressler's fist clenched as he banged it on the countertop.

They hadn't had this talk. Ressler had just accepted her back with open arms. She should've known it was coming, but instead her heart sank as did her head. Liz didn't have a response. She knew she'd hurt the people that were closest to her.

"Look, I get it." He contradicted himself, but he'd felt so damn guilty for bringing it up. "You have enough people giving you bullshit about it. I know you were protecting Agnes. I _know_ that." Ressler turned to face her. He frowned, noticing her head hung in shame as she brushed her scar with her fingertips. He stepped towards her, resting both hands either side of the countertop where she sat. "I should've protected you."

Her head snapped up, as she looked at him with confusion all over her face. "What?"

"When you were on the run, I should've done more. I should never have…"

"Ressler, none of this is your fault." She rested her hand on his cheek, smiling slightly to comfort him, before something occurred to her. "Is that why you're letting us stay here? You feel guilty?"

"No." His response was like a knee jerk reaction.

"Then, why?"

Instinctively he found himself moving closer to her, almost resting his forehead on hers.  
"Why did you come here?" He challenged, his eyes locking on hers. She didn't look away, and he felt his heart pounding faster and faster for each second neither of them looked away.

"I- I – I don't…."

He didn't give her a chance to finish her sentence. His lips crushed desperately against hers. Liz returned the kiss, just as urgent finally realising the true reason she'd turned up at his doorstep, over and over. Her legs locked round his torso, as he lifted her up and slammed her body against the kitchen wall. He needed her and fuck, he'd missed her.


	3. Not staying with us

_I'm kind of addicted to writing at the moment. Thank you for the reviews, it really means a lot. Any kind of feedback is welcomed. I'm not sure how much I like this chapter. I might alter it, or delete it completely and start again. WHO KNOWS!_

They were both woken by the cry of her daughter, hungry and in need of attention. Liz sprang out of the sofa bed and in to Ressler's bedroom, where she'd left her daughter for the evening in the travel crib.

Ressler half opened his eyes, to see her leave the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Still in sleepy-I've-just-had-crazy-sex-with-my-partner mode, he grinned to himself and rolled over to the other side, falling back to sleep just waiting for her to return to him.

The next time he woke, it was 6am. He rolled back over and stretched his arm to find an empty side next to him. Ressler opened his eyes wide, fully taking in what had happened last night. He sighed, rolling to his back and looking at the ceiling.

He would be lying if he said he'd never thought about sleeping with Liz before. Sure, he'd thought about it when they first started working together – even when he didn't trust her. As time went on, it became more than that – feelings had developed. Ressler couldn't put his finger on the exact moment he realised just how crazy about Elizabeth Keen he was. What he was certain of was she had successfully managed to hurt him more than he ever thought humanly possible. Less than six months ago he found himself standing over her "dead" body. Now he lay naked in bed after spending what had been one of the best nights of his life, now alone.

"Ressler?" She questioned, hearing him pottering around the kitchen she approached him with Agnes on her hip. The sex hair was still there, but she had thrown on some old sweats to make herself decent around Agnes.

"Huh?" Ressler, looked at Liz before shaking the pan of bacon to flip the rashers over. He grinned at her messy hair, and her sheepish expression. Shy had never been a trait he'd experienced in Liz, and he found it captivating. "Oh, er… I thought I'd make breakfast." He pointed at the pan, as if she were completely blind. It was an icebreaker, albeit a not very good one.

Liz tried her best to stop herself smirking, but she couldn't help herself. She hid her face by kissing the top of her daughter's head. "I've been here two weeks and you haven't once made me bacon and eggs…"

Ressler raised his brow. "I thought I'd wake you both up in style!" He tried his best to sound casual. He demonstrated the bottle of formula he had made up for Agnes, so she could feed her before breakfast. He'd watched her do it so many times, and there were instructions, it was impossible to get wrong – in theory. "How are you, beautiful?" He approached them both, looking at Agnes, but of course he was talking to them both. Their eyes locked momentarily as Liz's heart fluttered at the contact. Ressler kissed the top of her Agnes' head, as Liz bounced her to hide how nervous she was.

"Sorry for waking you up, Ressler." Liz's tone was childlike to mimic Agnes.

"Hey, don't you worry about me." He grinned at Agnes crouching down to her eye level on Liz's shoulder. "Damn, she's getting so big. Aren't you little lady?" He kissed the baby's cheek, before returning to plate up breakfast for Liz and wrapping his in a tortilla wrap, burrito style, and tin foil for the road. Ressler ran his kitchen like a military operation. It was immaculate. On the counter top he'd put Agnes' bottle, a plate of breakfast for Liz and his ready to take to the office. The order made Liz chuckle, but realising he was leaving without eating with her made her frown.

"You're not staying with us?" She asked, her tone almost offended. His hair was gelled as per usual, all he needed was his jacket and he was good to go. Ressler grinned, it was nice for her to be somewhat put out by this. It gave him a better indication as to where they both stood after last night. He then felt the guilt wash over him. Feeling as if they'd just had a one-night stand and he was bolting. He'd gotten up early to prepare breakfast for them all, as a gesture of what last night had meant to him, minus the pressure.

"Yeah." He pulled his jacket over his shoulders. "Confession time, Red's coming to the post office today."

Liz looked as if she'd just been slapped in the face. "Oh…" She placed Agnes in her stroller, to allow her some freedom to bounce around the living room.

"You can come in, if you want. I mean, it'd be nice for you to be there. I'm sure he'd want to see Agnes too."

"Why is…?"  
"I don't know. He just said he has a new blacklister for us." Ressler tried his best to downplay the situation, but he knew how much it hurt Liz.

"Who…?"  
"Liz." He couldn't help himself. Ressler wrapped an arm around her and pulled her tightly to his chest. "I'll tell you everything tonight, unless you want to come?"

"Ressler… I…"

He lifted her chin up with his index finger, gently touching his lips against hers with a soft kiss.  
"Don." He corrected.

Liz smiled in to another kiss, this one a more playful, happy kiss. "Don." She nodded in agreement.

"I love you." He whispered before realising what he was actually confessing. Liz's eyes widened as her heart came to a halt. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Ressler's cheeks began to burn like the sun. He needed to get out of the situation. He kissed Agnes before heading to the post office, completely forgetting his burrito.

Elizabeth stared at what he'd left behind; sighing at how she'd reacted to his confession. Did she love him? Heck, she'd thought their relationship was completely platonic until 12 hours ago. She'd spent so long lost in a toxic relationship, she'd given little thought to being involved in one that would actually make her happy. Ressler – Donald – Don – would make her happy. He would do anything for her. She knew that. He was that kind of guy. She would trust him with her life. He was passionate, but kind. He was honest and loving. He was serious yet playful. He was loyal. Donald Ressler was the most loyal man she'd ever encountered – and yes, she loved him too.


	4. Another day at the office

_Okay, so I'm trying something a little different for this chapter. It is still Keenler centric and I do have a plan for a direction… kind of. Feedback is encouraged. It's not perfect, and I might need to start over, but eh. I had a rough idea and wanted to write. Thank you for all the support. You guys are amazeballs._

 _The Post Office_

"Agent Keen is still staying with you?"

"It's just Keen now, Aram." Samar snarked, and Ressler responded with a glare, before giving Navabi a slow blink before returning all his attention to Aram.

"Yeah." He felt the corner of his mouth turn up in to a smile, but he did all her could to stop his expression from revealing too much. "Yeah, she is."

"Excellent." Reddington chirped up, walking confidently in to the black site with Dembe following close behind. He stood at the head of the table, of course, resting his fedora on the tabletop. "Elizabeth didn't want to join us today, Donald?" He looked at Ressler, but didn't give enough time for him to respond. "Well, it's just as well." He shrugged. "She needs to take some time." Red was keeping his distance from Liz. He was still hurting. His intentions to keep Liz out of this situation, was purely to give her some time to adapt to parenthood. Although, going to Donald about their next Blacklister and not making his intentions completely clear to Liz was partly to prove a point.

"Anyway, on to more pressing matters. In light of recent events, it appears we have unexpected allies." The taskforce all looked at each other while Red took one of his dramatic pauses. "Someone has been hunting the members of the cabal, more specifically their nearest and dearest." He nodded along with himself, speaking as though he was presenting to a lecture hall. "One can only assume, this man is seducing the women closest to them for information before killing them."

"So…"

"I'm not finished Donald. His name is Christian Peters, and we need to get him on side."

"And what exactly are we trying to achieve here?"

"This man is very talented. Somehow he's managed to obtain information that's contained on the fulcrum, but also information that would be – how do I put this?" Red looked to the ceiling, deep in thought. Ressler frowned in confusion. There was something not quite right about his expression. He was admiring Peters'. "The fulcrum was put together over twenty years ago. As far as I'm aware, there has been no other file like it, but if there were… the people Peters is hunting would be on the 2016 version."

"So, what's the plan?"

Red dropped a folder on the desk in front of them. "I have his next victim. Well, his next victim's mistress. Wonderful woman. We had the most fun at this little coffee shop just below her apartment." He sighed at the fond memory. "We need to get him on side. You can think something." He adjusted his coat before placing his fedora back on his head. "Perhaps, Donald could do something undercover? I'd hate to see anything happen to Lisa. She's just fallen in with the wrong crowd."

"Undercover?" Ressler scrunched his brow. Red was making no sense, but that didn't stop him peering closer to speak to him, almost privately.  
"Well, I hope you don't mind me saying, it's been a while since the passing of Miss Bidwell. You need to get back out there, Donald."

Ressler could feel his fist tighten and his jaw clench. Red looked at him with a smug grin, taking note of his reaction to his suggestion.  
"I guessed as much." He laughed slightly. "You wouldn't mind if I swung by this evening to see Elizabeth, would you Donald?"

Ressler scowled.

"Agnes must be getting so big these days. It's been so long since I last saw her."  
"She's pretty close to crawling." His own tone confused him. He was proud, yet still angry with Red. He couldn't help himself but say something about the child.

Red grinned ear to ear. He knew what was happening, of course he did. The man who spent five years hunting him, was now taking care of the people he cared for most in the world. Ressler was everything he wanted for Liz. He was a good man and he would keep her and Agnes safe.

"I'll stop by to see the girls, while you focus on the task at hand?" He gave Ressler a knowing glance. While Ressler was kind of aware, he wasn't one hundred per cent sure what was happening. All he knew was he had something new to focus his energy on, yet all he could think about was Elizabeth. He tried to shake his thoughts. Leaving the rest of the task force to speak amongst themselves, Ressler plonked himself down at his desk. He opened his web browser to do some research.

Earlier that morning he finally told Elizabeth Keen he was in love with her. He had no response. Sure, she'd just split from the father of her child, which was stressful under normal circumstances, let alone in her situation – but he couldn't shake the sinking feeling that she hadn't said it back. All he could do was blame himself for saying it too soon.

He pulled out his cell phone.

 _I'll pick up Wing Yee's on the way home from the post office_

Before pressing send, he thought about what he was going to send her. Texting her, would give him his fix and then he could focus on work. They had slept together twelve hours before. He'd seen her naked and he wasn't going to send her a kiss. Text messaging wasn't Ressler's thing, but people felt so strongly about it all.

 _Wing Yee's tonight? I'll grab it on the way home xxx_

He didn't like it. It was too obvious he was trying.

 _I'll grab something from Wing Yee's tonight for us? X_

Before he could think about it anymore, he pushed send. But that didn't stop his thoughts. When he finally calmed, after a minute he'd received a response.

 _Sounds perfect. Don't be too late. Missed you today x_

He beamed at the response. Ressler climbed to his feet, and he wasn't proud of it, but he did start to fistpump.

"Is everything okay Agent Ressler?" Harold Cooper, asked curiously entering his office.

"Holy shit, yeah. I'm… er…" He tried to think of an excuse, but the silence was too awkward. "I'm good, sir."


	5. Us

_I've skipped stuff. I was inspired and just wanted to get this chapter out there. I might add one in the middle to join up the previous chapter. I might delete it all together, and just make this fanfic shameless Keenler fluff._

Ressler's Apartment 7:00pm.

"I think we need to talk." Liz announced finally after poking her noodles around in the box, for twenty minutes.

"Sure." Ressler nodded, adjusting his position to make himself more comfortable. He looked in to his own box of rice, before carefully picking up some food to put in his mouth. The perfect excuse not to start "the talk."

Liz looked at him with his mouth full. She had hoped he'd say something, but of course, he wanted her to start. "I like how you decide to take a mouthful when I said that." She snarked. Ressler liked avoiding his emotions, she was fully aware of this.

"Quit profiling me, Keen." He retorted, mouth half full, before letting out a small laugh. Ressler remembered how much he'd resented her for effortlessly being able to profile him when they'd first met. Ressler would try to do the same, but Elizabeth Keen was someone he could never get to the bottom of.

"Liz." She kinked her brow, playfully, remembering how he'd instructed her to call him Don earlier.

"Liz." He smirked, before rolling his eyes, teasing with her.

She didn't know how to start this conversation. She was so familiar with him, yet they were stepping in to completely new territory. "We had sex last night." Her heart fluttered and her cheeks flushed as soon as the words escaped.

"We did."

"Did you plan it?"

He thought carefully. "I don't know what you mean. Had I thought about it before? Sure. Of course

I had."

"When?"

Ressler chuckled. "Liz, I'm a guy. Have you seen you?" He paused. He looked down at his food before resting his chopsticks on the table top. He wasn't hungry anymore. "What I mean is, you're a beautiful kick ass woman. What guy wouldn't want to wake up next to you in the morning?"

Liz grinned ear to ear. Feeling a little more comfortable with the situation and taking a bite of her noodles. "You said something this morning."

Ressler's cheeks burned, but he was trying his best to act nonchalant. "I love you?" He tried his best to laugh is off. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, focusing on the corner of the table next to her. "Well, I am kind of… maybe… in love with you."

"What do you mean maybe?" She crossed her arms, and stared at him. Sort of enjoying watching his squirm.

"Keen I -"

"-Liz" She corrected. 

"Elizabeth Scott Keen," He challenged, looking her directly into her eyes while he spoke. Ressler offered his hands out to her over the table. Liz uncrossed her arms and tangled her fingers in his. Both Liz and Don smiled at their hands meeting. "Of course, I'm in love with you. I have been since…" He shook his head. "Heck, I sound so cheesy…" Donald broke eye contact with her, before laughing at himself and the butterflies in his stomach. "I think I was in love with you way before I even realised I was. We've had our ups and our downs, but… yeah…"

Liz smiled to herself. Hearing his words made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She felt at home. She found herself lost in thoughts of what her life would've been like had she met Donald under normal circumstances. Perhaps it would've been at a work conference, and their eyes would meet across the conference room. 

"Hey." Don squeezed her hand. "Throw a guy a bone here." 

"Oh!" Liz snapped back to reality. The reality of it was she was an unemployed single mother. Her ex was a spy, and she was previously known as a terrorist – heck some people believed she was. Ressler was an agent, with a future at the FBI. She firmly believed he would be director one day.

"Oh? That's all you have to say?" He looked confused. 

"Res – Don. Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself in to?"

"I've been here for the past four years. I think I know what I'm getting myself in for."

"My life is dangerous." 

"Mine too." 

"If you want to be assistant director someday, you can't date a terrorist." 

"It's a good thing you're not a terrorist."

"I have a daughter."

"That's what's making that noise in my bedroom? I thought it was a mouse." He teased. Liz glared at him, as he shut down her points. Ressler wiggled his eyebrows at her, and she couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Screw it, I love you too." Liz left her chair to sit herself on his knees and kiss him desperately on the mouth. Ressler returned the kiss momentarily, before backing off to brush a strand of her hair behind her ear. He looked at her with a smile before kissing her mouth softly. Their night of passion had been a long time coming. It had left both of them confused. It was passionate, tender and could've easily been mistaken for a friends-with-benefits type situation. Small moments, had demonstrated to Liz that Ressler's feelings were deeper. When he'd been concerned about how rough he was being with her, he'd ask her if she was okay and if she was comfortable with what he was doing.

"Last night was amazing." She rested her forehead on his.

"You were amazing." He brushed his nose against hers.

"If we're going to do this, I think we should move back to my old apartment." Starting a new relationship was complicated enough. Liz and Agnes had already taken up so much of his life, backing off would be the best thing to do.

"Why?" Ressler looked confused, before looking around his apartment and seeing her point. "I mean I guess it's bigger than this place for us."

 _Us._ Liz beamed, realising how their wires had gotten crossed, but enjoying where this was going and loving seeing his mind work.

"Or, we could find some place a little bigger. We both got our places thinking it would just be one of us and now there's two and I mean, Agnes is small now but she's gonna get bigger." He nodded in agreement with himself, as he lightly traced shaped on her back with his thumb.

"Ressler?"

"Yeah?"

"When I said for us to go back to my old apartment. I meant Agnes…"

"Oh." His eyes widened. He'd well and truly gotten ahead of himself.

"Did you just ask us to move in with you?" She giggled at his mortified expression, but her arm remained firmly wrapped around him.  
"I guess I did." He barely realised his suggestion had been such a big deal. It felt right. The thought of Liz and Agnes moving out made his heart sink. "I love you and Agnes. I want you both to be happy. I want us to be… us."


End file.
